Mercenary I am the king

Chapter 1069 The Beginning of Hell
The name "Ganshahe" is a misnomer for this place.

This is not a rushing river, but a huge dry valley that has been eroded and carved out by wind and sand over a long period of time.

The riverbed is wide, spanning hundreds of meters, and filled with soft, shifting sand and heavily weathered, jagged rocks, forming countless natural depressions, gullies, and undulating dunes.

Once the wheels and tracks get stuck in soft sand, the speed will drop sharply, and even the strongest maneuverability will be greatly reduced.

The valley is flanked by earthen cliffs eroded by the wind, mostly between ten and twenty meters high. They are not particularly steep, but they provide good cover and high vantage points for firing.

The cliff face is covered with wind-eroded holes and cracks, which serve as natural firing ports and hiding places for soldiers.

This type of terrain is common in places like the Middle East.

Whenever he arrives at a new place, Song Heping always looks at a map first.

Make sure you can see the terrain around your location very clearly.

This is almost a habit.

Clearly, this is a good habit.

This terrain is a natural fortress designed for delaying warfare, and also a death trap carefully chosen by Song Heping for the 1515 armed forces.

Time was so tight it was suffocating.

After arriving at Ganshahe from the camp, Song Heping gave Samir and the suicide squad less than 15 minutes.

In such a short time, it would be a drop in the ocean to set up a defensive line in such a vast area that could hold off three thousand enemy troops.

"Samir! Take your men and unload all the explosives, shells, and rocket warheads from the vehicle! Especially the spare warheads for those 107mm rockets!"

Song Heping jumped out of the armed pickup truck and spoke as fast as popping beans.

"Nassin, your men, bring the engineers and come with me! The rest of you, in squads, immediately construct makeshift firing positions! Machine gun teams, prioritize crossfire positions! Anti-tank teams, find high ground that controls the valley entrance and main passage! Hurry! We can't waste a minute!"

Orders are like a mountain, unstoppable.

The entire suicide squad was like a machine that had suddenly started running at high speed.

The militiamen roared as they ran across the scorching sand.

The heavy ammunition boxes were dragged off the truck and pried open.

Bundles of TNT explosives, boxes of mortar shells, spare warheads for 107mm rockets, and even barrels of gasoline were quickly gathered together.

Song Heping led Nassin's team and a few selected engineers through the narrowest part of the valley entrance.

"here!"

Song Heping pointed to an area where the earthen cliffs on both sides were relatively steep and the riverbed narrowed.

"This is the throat! Concentrate the explosives here! Bury them deep! Cover them with stones and sand for camouflage! Choose the detonation point at the top of the cliff, and detonate remotely! Quickly!"

While giving instructions, he personally lifted a heavy stone.

"Those wind-eroded caves!"

He then pointed to several large indentations on the inside of the entrance.

"Stuff them with shells! Make them into delayed or remote-controlled booby traps! Once the entrance explodes, these will be a 'surprise' for the subsequent enemies!"

"understand!"

The engineers were covered in sweat, but their movements were exceptionally swift.

They frantically dug in the soft sand with bayonets and entrenching tools, burying boxes of explosives and connecting them with long detonating wires.

The weapons support provided by Afanti this time included a considerable amount of explosives and shells.

Song Heping ordered that, apart from the necessary bullets, all the remaining load of each vehicle be allocated to explosives and shells.

The daytime sun was scorching hot, the sand felt like it had been burned, and sweat dripped into the sand and disappeared in less than two seconds.

While Song Heping was planting explosives, Samir was directing his men to set up the attack positions.

A brand-new PKM general-purpose machine gun was set up in a shallow pit, with the muzzle pointing towards the predetermined firing line, and sandbags were hastily piled up.

The heavy DShK machine gun was carried to a relatively sturdy cliff top platform, its long barrel overlooking the entire valley.

Several simple yet powerful 107mm rocket launchers were carefully pushed into several deep sand pits. The dark twelve-tube launchers were pointed towards the entrance of the valley. The artillery lieutenant nervously calculated the firing data with a simple rangefinder and compass.

The most prized "Konkurs" anti-tank missile launchers were personally controlled by Samir.

It was deployed behind a cliff bunker on the south bank with excellent visibility, covering the entrance and the open area in front.

Song Heping moved between key points, constantly revising the deployment: "Move this machine gun position forward ten meters! The firing arc will be better! Pay attention to the elevation and depression angles!"

"Anti-tank teams, spread out! Don't huddle together! Otherwise, you'll all get wiped out!"

"The rocket artillery position is too far forward! Retreat behind that big sand dune! Pay attention to camouflage!"

He focused his limited manpower and firepower resources on the most lethal positions.

Sweat soaked through the back of his camouflage uniform, but he seemed oblivious, his eyes fixed only on the impending death trap.

In just fifteen minutes, a defensive position that relied on its advantageous terrain, was centered around explosives, and was equipped with a tiered configuration of light and heavy firepower was initially formed.

The cost was that everyone was exhausted, their fingers were chafed by the rough sand, and their lips were chapped.

Looking at the prepared detonation points and the set-up heavy weapons, a tragic and heroic atmosphere of facing certain death permeated the ranks.

"Go back! Go back! Hurry up! Don't waste time, I reckon those guys will be here soon!"

Song Heping led the engineers away from the riverbed and quickly returned to a hidden observation post on a hilltop on the north side of the valley.

He steadily placed his Dragunov SVD sniper rifle on the sandbags he had piled up. As the commander of this ambush, he would not participate in the charge, but this Russian-made sniper rifle could turn the surrounding 1000 meters into an absolute death zone.

Through the reticle with its unique rangefinding curve on the PSO-1 optical sight, the dry riverbed area is fully visible.

The midday sun relentlessly baked the Gobi Desert, the air violently evaporating and distorting under the high temperature, and the distant scenery resembled a swaying mirage.

But beneath that distorted illusion, a long, yellowish-brown dragon, growing ever clearer, was rolling in! The roar of the engine, initially a low tremor on the horizon, quickly coalesced into a heart-pounding roar, like the dense drumbeats of war drums striking the hearts of every ambush participant before battle.

"coming."

Song Heping's deep voice was clearly transmitted through the radio channel to the ears of every daredevil team member at the ambush point.

Behind him and on both sides of the valley below, three hundred "Liberation Force" daredevils, like chameleons blending into the rocks and sand, lay quietly in ambush behind the newly constructed makeshift shelters.

Lying prone in scorching sand is no easy task.

Sweat soaked through his back, evaporating quickly in the scorching air, leaving behind white salt stains.

No one spoke, only heavy breathing and the faint scraping of fingers unconsciously rubbing the trigger.

Song Heping meticulously recalled the locations of every pre-set firing point, minefield, and anti-tank team in his mind.

His commands were concise and clear, transmitted across the battlefield via the throat microphone:

"Samir, South Bank Anti-Tank Team, 'Competition' missiles ready. Target: Enemy 'homemade tanks' and armored trucks. First volley must destroy or disable their heavy firepower platforms! Remember, aim for the side joints or the base of the turret!"

"Roger that, boss!"

Samir's voice carried a hint of tense excitement as he personally operated an old-model "Competition" launcher, lying prone behind a carefully constructed bunker, the crosshairs of his PSO-1M2 scope locked onto the churning sand at the valley entrance.

"Rocket artillery team! Target: 300 to 500 meters behind the river entrance, covering enemy infantry and vehicle formations! Three rapid fires! Immediately move to reserve positions after firing!"

"Rocket launcher team received! Parameters set! Azimuth XXX, firing angle XXX!" The artillery lieutenant in command spoke in a hoarse but firm voice.

"Machine gun teams! Crossfire! Block the main riverbed passage! On my command, close to 200 meters before firing! Prioritize taking out fast-moving motorcycles!"

"understand!"

"IDE team! Perform a final check on the remote detonation device wiring! Make sure everything is foolproof!"

"Power lines are clear! Detonator is functioning properly! Ready to detonate at any time!"

"Sniper team..."

Song Heping finally turned his gaze to the Nassin squad members around him, who were also equipped with SVD sniper rifles.

"Free hunting! Priority: enemy commanders, heavy weapons operators, communications soldiers, vehicle drivers! Shoot out their eyes and brains!"

"Understood! Leave it to us!"

Nassin nodded excitedly, the safety of his SVD already off, the butt firmly against his shoulder.

Once the order was given, the battlefield fell into a suffocating silence, broken only by the increasingly loud roar of engines in the distance and the whistling of hot winds sweeping across the dunes.

Every member of the suicide squad stared intently at the entrance to the valley, adrenaline surging through their veins, their hearts pounding so hard they felt like they were going to burst out of their chests, and the knuckles of their fingers gripping their guns were bloodless from the excessive force.

coming!

finally come!

Three hundred versus three thousand!

A hellish start!

At the entrance to the river area, the first thing to appear is a group of motorcycles.

Behind them, the first "Death Pickup Truck" painted with a ferocious black skull and crossbones symbol burst out of the sand like a wild dog that had broken free!
The DShK heavy machine gun mounted in the truck bed gleamed with a deathly cold light under the blinding sunlight.

The black flag of the Levant shone brightly in the fierce wind.

Then came the second one, the third one...

Dozens of modified off-road motorcycles, fitted with armor plates, emitted a piercing shriek as they darted wildly across the soft sand like a swarm of bees, clearing the way for reconnaissance troops to follow.

Behind them, heavy shadows began to appear—three makeshift tanks, built on old truck chassis with thick, rough steel plates welded on them, rumbled in.

On the simple, open turret at the top, the KPV 14.5mm heavy machine gun's thick, long, and chilling barrel slowly rotates.

Behind them were two heavily modified armored trucks, each with a twin-mounted ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft gun on its roof. The 23mm gun barrels were pointing forward, and the operators, their faces covered and headscarves tied, could be vaguely seen hiding behind the gun barrels.

At the very back were a dense mass of ordinary armed pickup trucks and lorries, none of them covered with tarpaulins. Inside the truck beds and cargo compartments, 1515 extremists brandished various rifles, constantly emitting fanatical and incomprehensible roars. Amidst the deafening cries of "Allahu Akbar," they stepped unsuspectingly into the death zone of the Dry Sand River.

"Stay calm... stay calm... stay calm..."

Song Heping's voice, like ice water, poured through the throat microphone onto the taut nerves of every daredevil team member.

His index finger rested lightly on the cold trigger guard of the SVD, and his breathing became steady and long.

The crosshairs of the PSO-1 sight fit snugly onto the narrow observation slit in the driver's compartment of the first "homemade tank".

He was waiting, waiting for his prey to step completely into the center of the trap.

The hot wind blowing across the valley carried sand particles, stinging my face slightly.

However, this also has its advantages, as it allows him to accurately estimate the impact of wind speed and direction.

The 1515's forward motorcycle and pickup truck had already reached the middle of the valley, and their speed inevitably slowed down.

The soft sand greedily swallowed the kinetic energy of the wheels. The rugged terrain and scattered rocks forced them to frequently turn and slow down. Several motorcycles even got stuck in the sand pits because they rushed too hard, spinning their rear wheels in vain. Several extremists on the motorcycles jumped off and bent down to help push the motorcycles.

The entire vanguard resembled a giant, clumsy, and crowded worm, crammed together at the narrow entrance and in the relatively open middle section, with the vehicles following behind getting stuck in a jam.

it is good!
wonderful!
This is the perfect opportunity I've been waiting for!

"Detonate!"

Song Heping's voice pierced the suffocating silence in an instant!

"BOOM—!!! BOOM Rumble Rumble Rumble—!!!"

　Asking for a monthly ticket! Asking for a monthly ticket!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)